Thursday, September 5, 2013

Symbolism over Substance: Reflections on the 21st Century March on Washington

The 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, August 24, 2013 photo courtesy of the Atlanta Journal Constitution

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It's taken me a couple weeks to put the
recent commemoration of the 1963 "March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom" into some perspective. It was a moving, honorable event that paid
homage to the sacrifices of many brave and courageous souls who put their lives
and careers on the line to change the trajectory of a nation embedded in
race-based oppression. There were stirring, eloquent speeches from President
Barack Obama, the National Urban League's, Marc Morial, Rev. Al Sharpton, the
NAACP's Ben Jealous and others. But beyond the symbolic celebration of a bygone
occasion, I found myself questioning the leadership and still hungry for
much-needed direction.

Where was the outlined plan for
Congress and the Obama Administration that would push them to immediately
address the disproportionate woes black people endure today? After all the
speeches, what were black people supposed to do to reclaim their communities
and their children's lives? Why was their no clear agenda in this time of
social, educational and economic crisis?

Some will say that the speakers did
in fact refer to a "21st century agenda" and that Obama-speaking at
the Lincoln Memorial-where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke 50 years ago-did
mention the " growing inequality" in America and the need for "a
fair shot for the many." But what was really said? More important, was not
said.

Symbolism is a wonderful thing but it's time for a do-for-self plan with substance that's aimed at creating alternative systems to stop the hemorrhaging and begin healing societal wounds inflicted centuries ago.

To me, the event was more of a
reflection on the past without a definitive diagram for our ominous future.
Civil rights leaders called for economic parity, equity in education, assured
voting rights, an elimination of racial health care disparities and serious
criminal justice reform. But what does that mean? Who were they calling on?
Washington? With the drums of war once again beating, with deep partisan
stagnation and one side stubbornly stuck on hamstringing the president; who
really gives a hoot about the needs of Obama's most loyal voter base? Do they
really believe that a Democratic Party so afraid to even utter the
"R" word will actually do anything about America's "race
problem?"

These are serious times, especially
for black people. We are the most acute victims of failing educational,
economic and criminal justice systems. Symbolism is a wonderful thing but it's
time for a do-for-self plan with substance that's aimed at creating alternative
systems to stop the hemorrhaging and begin healing societal wounds inflicted
centuries ago.

Obama, aware of the potential
conservative backlash, cautiously sandwiched his call for "equality"
within the context of his second term agenda. The continuing civil rights struggle
was woven into his efforts to convince Congress to raise taxes on the
wealthiest Americans, pass immigration reform, fund his infrastructure and jobs
bill and lower the cost of college.

It's now apparent that electing the
first black president and having high profile African Americans sit in the
White House came with a quiet directive to tone down anything "black"
or, if necessary, keep it within the broader context of all marginalized
Americans. But we can't treat cancer by calling it acne. Hundreds of years of
race-based oppression and economic exclusion have resulted in metastasized
disparities for past and future generations of black people. These disparities
are not moreimportant than what gays and lesbians, immigrants or poor
whites grapple with today-they are just drastically different.

We can't treat cancer by calling it acne. Hundreds of years of race-based oppression and economic exclusion have resulted in metastasized disparities for past and future generations of black people.

There is a time and place for the
"equalization" of our collective woes but the 50 th
anniversary commemoration event was not apropos for politically correct
niceties. Consider these lopsided statistics: Between 2005 and 2010, the net
worth of blacks fell by more than 55 percent as opposed to a 15
percent drop for whites. In 2010, 38.2 percent of black children lived in
poverty. For the children of Whites and Asians that number is 21.6 percent. As
of 2012, 13 percent of blacks were unemployed compared to seven percent for
whites. Each year, according to a recent PBS documentary, 300,000 kids-mostly black-are
introduced to the juvenile justice system through the educational system. More
than 1 million black men are in prison-the norm for the past 20 years. All
combined, these stats indicate that another generation of blacks will be locked
in poverty and destined for unemployment, prison and early graves.

The March on Washington for civil rights on Aug. 28, 1963 courtesy www.nyust.org

When Dr. King spoke of "the
mountaintop" most black folk knew exactly what he meant. The 1963 march came at a time when
"government" was the most viable option to beat back vicious,
murderous attacks on black people and address the blatant and racist denial of
basic human rights. Today, our options for change are unlimited. African
Americans make up 13.7 of the U.S. population. There are 43 million of us in
the United States. According to a new study by the Nielsen Company entitled "African-American
Consumers: Still Vital, Still Growing," by 2015, our projected buying
power will exceed $1Trillion. Unlike yesteryear when blacks were locked out or
confined to the bottom tiers of society, African Americans today occupy the
highest ranks imaginable in business, politics, sports, entertainment and more.

In 1963, black celebritiessuch
as Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, Josephine Baker, Marion Anderson, Sammy
Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee attended the march. They had no idea
what Dr. King and other speakers would say or who they'd offend with their
remarks on race. Yet, those icons put their careers at risk for a greater and
nobler cause. High-profile blacks at the recent march, such as Oprah Winfrey,
Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Soledad O'Brien and Hill Harper had no fears of
risking their celebrity-hood. Other than Atty. General Eric Holder's bold
announcement that the federal government would no longer pursue mandatory
minimum sentences for certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, our
"talented 10 th" today had no worries of being linked to a
bold agenda for progressive change; because nothing controversial was really
put forth.

photo courtesy of wikipedia

There were indeed protests back in
1963 from the White House, religious organizations and more moderate civil
rights groups who wanted speakers to delete any inflammatory or indicting
remarks about government or religious institutions. Organizers and activists
such as Stokely Carmichael and members of SNCC, CORE and the SCLC defiantly
opposed such censorship. Under pressure and threats of public denouncement from
powerful groups, some of the of the rhetoric was softened and author James
Baldwin was striken from the prgram in fear of what he might say. Still, the
thunder still roared. For example, in his speech, Congressman John Lewis-one of
the youngest speakers at the 1963 event-urged blacks to "get in and
stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation
until true freedom comes."

Lest we forget, that after the 2oth
Century march, extraordinary, ordinary black folk went home and went to work.
Gathering in churches, homes and neighborhoods, they unapologetically set out
to change the course of a nation. They pooled their personal and collective
resources and held voter registration drives and kicked off nation-wide sit-ins
and protests throughout the segregated south and the not-yet-integrated north.
The Kennedy Administration and the Democratic Party were put on notice that
they had to earn black votes. These actions led to the passage of
landmark civil rights legislation and President Johnson's "War on
Poverty."

High-profile blacks at the recent march, such as Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Soledad O'Brien and Hill Harper had no fears of risking their celebrity-hood.

It's sad to see today's black
leadership rendered impotent. They still operate with 1960's rhetoric and 20 th
century expectations. The time of "white guilt" stirred by
never-before-seen television images of animalistic racism are long gone. In
today's ever-evolving multi-media world, bloody coups and genocidal violations
around the globe are just a touch screen away. Against this backdrop, the
plight of blacks is seen as outdated and passé to many.

National polls show that the
majority of African Americans are very dissatisfied with race relations in
America. While most felt the exoneration of George Zimmerman for the shooting
of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was proof positive that institutionalized racism
still exists, most whites don't share that opinion. The majority, 54 percent,
according to a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, believe that minorities
"receive equal treatment under the law." A Pew Center study showed that 49 percent of whites
were actually satisfied with the verdict and another Washington Post/ABC poll
found that 50% of white Americans think race relations are "very
good" or "fairly good."

The reality is that this country,
burdened with economic woes that affect everybody has moved on. In a very real
sense; blacks have to make their own change. Back in 2010 when the Rev. Al
Sharpton and commentator Tavis Smiley almost came to blows over the issue of
Obama committing to a "black agenda""or not. Sharpton, as
president of the National Action Network (NAN), vowed to hold the
Administration accountable and develop a real agenda for Black America.
Ironically, links to those statements have been taken down from the site but
here's a quote I saved from a 2010 NAN press release: "The collective
will discuss the real problems and how we will not only hold the President and
Administration of the United States accountable, but how we will hold ourselves
accountable and tangibly measure our movement over a 12-month period to enact
change."

It's been almost four years since
that public release and Sharpton and other members of the civil rights
"collective" are still talking about coming together to draft such an
agenda.

This leads me to question the
criteria of "leadership." Should it be old style civil rights leaders
who are still solely entrenched in government guidance and assistance or others
like Van
Jones, Majora Carter, Angela Glover-Blackwell and Michelle
Alexander? These are just a few of the forward-thinking individuals
who've dedicated their careers to drafting solutions that will lead to
sustainable, environmental and economic "new" revitalized systems
where minorities can are major players in their own reclamation.

The 50 th anniversary
commemoration was the right time and the right place to unveil a budgeted,
self-sustaining agenda that would finally tackle issues that have plagued
blacks for centuries. What we witnessed instead was a 21 st Century
symbolic event with homogenized 20 th Century messages. Sadly, it
was a commemoration with no specific agenda, no plan and no spark that will
truly lift black people to the long-awaited proverbial mountaintop.

Sylvester Brown, Jr. is a St.
Louis-based writer and founder and director of the Sweet Potato Project, a
nonprofit program in St. Louis that teaches at-risk youth
"do-for-self" entrepreneurial skills.

1 comment:

I know that things have changed and not always for the better. I have an opinion about it, as usual. One thing that disturbs me is that the generations who were not here or were not old enough to remember the turmoil of the 50's, the dogs and water hoses and the freedom bus burning have looked at that as history. They are selfish and choose to ignore problems rather than get involved trying to solve them. I include my children in this group and my grand children are worse because as teenagers they think all the problems are solved and they are even more self oriented with the technical and social media that further separates them from the problems outside themselves. On top of that they think they know more than anyone else. They all have friends outside their ethnicity and religion, so they think all problems are solved. But the problem is they are all in the same or near the same income bracket I fear that they will never be activists in any cause., which means we will have to wait for the next generation. Maybe I am the cause because I wasn't active enough to be the example they needed.

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About Me

Born and raised in St. Louis. In 1987 started Take Five Magazine, a pro-active, community-based, investigative publication. Operated for 15 years. Hired as Metro columnist with the St. Louis Post Dispatch in 2002. Brought Bill Cosby to town, debated Bill O'Reilly and wrote a column that saved a baby's life. After leaving the Post-Dispatch in 2009, started working with SmileyBooks as a consultant and writing contributor. Founded When We Dream Together, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing urban communities in 2011. In 2012, began "The Sweet Potato Project," a summer program aimed at teaching "at-risk" youth entrepreneurial skills. Students planted sweet potatoes that they turned into a viable, marketable product-a sweet potato cookie. Currently running both nonprofits, working as a freelance writer and consultant and about to enter the self-publishing arena.

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Commentary on this blog represents my views and opinions only. All items are subjective, except where specified and/or stated otherwise. Videos, clips, quotes, statements, etc., are included for emphasis, clarification, verification or as follow-up sources for particular subjects and issues. Usage of this material does not imply, express or emphasis any other views other than what is implied in the blog posting. There is no connection between this site and any other site, organization, company or publication of a similar name or previous association. -- Sylvester Brown.